The Five Boroughs

New York City is made up of five boroughs: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island. Each one has enough attractions—and enough personality—to be a city all its own. Learn more about them with this guide.

There's always something exciting to do and see around the five boroughs that doesn't cost a dime. See our weekly picks below, and visit our calendar and special offers section for more free events.

October 12–18

Wednesday, October 12Classic Horror: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Robert Wiene's 1919 horror film—the first cinematic example of German Expressionism—has earned its place on many best-of lists, including Roger Ebert's. The film critic has pointed out that while earlier ghost stories may have existed, their characters inhabited a recognizable world. But The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was the first to create "a mindscape, a subjective psychological fantasy," in which "unspeakable horror becomes possible." The film follows a deranged doctor and his somnambulist, who claims to have been sleeping for 23 years, in the German mountain village of Holstenwall. Caligari will screen in time for Halloween on October 12 at the New York Public Library's Mid-Manhattan branch, beginning at 7pm.

Thursday, October 13 Meet the Filmmaker: Wes Anderson
Fans of The Royal Tenenbaums might sympathize with Eli Cash's line: "I always wanted to be a Tenenbaum, you know." And they likely remember Royal Tenenbaum's response: "Me too, me too." Wes Anderson's cult classic turns 10 this year. The director will discuss the film, which premiered at the 2001 New York Film Festival, in person at the Apple store on the Upper West Side. And, in other Anderson news, the director's most recent production, Moonrise Kingdom, out next year, will feature favorites from his past films, like Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman, alongside established names like Bruce Willis and Tilda Swinton, who haven't worked with him before. The discussion begins at 7:15pm.

Saturday, October 15 Scripture: Skullphone & Curtis Kulig
The first documented collaboration between iconographic artists Skullphone and Curtis Kulig merges their distinct motifs and styles in a single exhibition. Scripture includes Kulig's classic "Love Me" script dripping on canvas and new digital media paintings—one of them a three-foot-tall Prada cross—by Skullphone, who is largely known for his black-and-white skull-on-a-cell-phone iconography spotted across LA. Scripture remains on view at Mallick Williams & Co. through November 8.

Sunday, October 16Edgar Allan Poe Cottage: Post-Restoration Tours
The American writer and poet spent his final years living in this Bronx farmhouse, where his wife, Virginia, died of tuberculosis in 1847 and where he penned his classic Annabel Lee, among other works. The nearly 200-year-old cottage has been closed for renovations since 2010. In addition to restorations, the project included the addition of the Poe Park Visitor Center, designed by Toshiko Mori. Be among the first to visit the reopened cottage with a free tour, beginning at 1pm, as part of the Historic House Trust Festival.

Monday, October 17Hugo França: New Work
For his series Casulos (cocoons), Brazilian designer Hugo França carved fallen pequi trees, which are native to Brazil, naturally knotty (yes, knotty by nature) and grow to an impressive 150 feet in height and 7 feet in girth. França works exclusively with reclaimed wood to craft these massive and stunning, one-of-a-kind pieces in organic forms. He seeks to follow and find functionality in each tree's natural lines; as he told The New York Times, "I like to maximize the innate features of the tree." New Work will be on view at R Gallery through November 5.

Tuesday, October 18 Views From the Past: Central Park History Tour
With the air turning crisp and the leaves beginning to change color, this free tour of Central Park seems perfectly timed. And although its trees and ponds create a natural oasis and escape from City life, the iconic park is actually entirely man-made and was designed in the mid–19th century by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. Learn more about the park's early history with a tour run by the Central Park Conservancy, beginning at 12:30pm outside the Central Park Dairy gift shop.